Some Concerns with GMAC Bank

There's a lot to like about GMAC Bank. It has great rates on its money market accounts and CDs. It has a relatively low minimum deposit requirement of $500. Also, GMAC Bank has been praised for its online banking features. It has a quick sign-up process and an easy ACH transfer system. External accounts can be linked completely online without verification of any trial deposits. Also, ACH transers initiated from GMAC have been reported to complete within one day. Although this can make account management easier, it may also make it less secure. Here were a few concerns about GMAC Bank listed in this fatwallet thread:

Little or no verification of linked accounts - There are no trial deposits as done by ING Direct or HSBC. GMAC claims to do some verification.

No masking of social security or account numbers on the user's profile

No email notifications of transactions

Passwords limited to 8 characters

There also have been worries regarding GMAC Bank's connection with GM. However, the bank's financial situation is solid, and I wouldn't consider this an issue.

Perhaps with the new security requirements from the banking regulators, GMAC will be implementing improvements this year. Improvements in security don't necessarily have to make things slower and more difficult.

I have an account with GMAC and had similar concerns when I added external accounts. But, this should not make just a GMAC customer nervous, it should make everyone concerned because a crook can use a GMAC account to siphon funds off their account.

Having a GMAC account does not make it easier for a crook to do the damage to you.

I was the one who posted that list of concerns to the fatwallet thread. Thanks for bringing more attention to these issues. I really like the bank and have had great experiences with the customer service in the two times I've spoken with them, but as the other commenter noted, these are issues that should concern anyone with a routhing and bank account number, not just GMAC Bank customers.

I agree that this linking issue is a concern for all. I like the trial-deposit verification method. It's a little slow, but it's easy. I think we need more of these types of verification methods at both ends.